With firefighting resources scarce, Montana faces drought

Town Crier “Briefs from the Region” (1) – 7/19/21

Montana is currently at the highest level of firefighting preparedness, meaning the state has the first line of access to national resources. However, historic drought conditions and a record-breaking fire season across the West have strained those resources in the midst of a weather pattern that doesn’t usually start until August. “If you are going to ask me which resources we are short on, I will say everything,” Sonya Germann, state forester with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, told a state water policy committee Thursday, as reported by AP News. “Nationally, we do not have enough resources to fight the fire that is on the landscape throughout the country,” she added.